Letters: Encourage innovation

With reference to "From Bathinda to Bengaluru, 88 firms make it to start-up fund" (June 26), despite vast potential in terms of intelligence and youth power, India has not contributed much to the world in terms of inventions and new ideas. Skype, which is used for video calls and instant messaging on the web, started in Estonia, the small Baltic country bordering Russia and the Baltic Sea.

The birth of Skype 11 years ago has led the way as this small country of 1.3 million has become a world leader in technology. When a country like Estonia can take a giant lead in technology, why can't a vast country like India with engage in innovation and research? There reasons for this failure are many, and one of this is that our education system does not encourage innovation and research. Research and innovative ideas should be encouraged at the school level.

Second, lack of government support for research and innovations also constraints talent. Let the government call a special meeting of experts from various fields and start a new body to encourage research in all fields. Third, due to lack of government support and other hurdles many of our scientists and engineers are migrating abroad. The government should call them back to India and offer facilities to encourage research.

Fourth, Prime Minister Modi should prove that he is different from his contemporaries and personally supervise to show the world that India is not far behind in terms of innovations. Finally, if we want development, economic growth and create employment opportunities for millions of youth we should encourage research.

Veena Shenoy, Thane (West)

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